Labor Day has given way for rainstorms (yes… in August) and it has drawn us inside. While we have been cooped up, we have begun the annual “crunch time for FurBQ”. Stego and Kat have been looking over supplies, making lists and otherwise keeping track of all that awaits us in 3 weeks. We got the reservation, and a budget for meat (and starter items for our early crowd), and we are almost ready to go

… however, we have decided to do some rearranging of our space within our rented group area (Group Area 3). Please look at our updated calendar entry, which gives all information about our event and includes info about our FREE grilling areas for those that like to get proactive about cooking good food.

Regarding other events, we have been checking in with organizers and our September and October months have gotten some returning events, as well as some modifications. Please check out the calendar to see all the updates.

Making New Connections

If you havent yet connected, check out the SoCal Furs Network (as well as in our sidebar) to find the network that works best for you. One addition is that we now have a Facebook page. In working within our community, and with some patience for Facebook itself, we can now get the information flowing there. Its only a simple page right now, but we are using it as a way to gather Facebook event postings from things that appear on our calendar.

March has come and we find ourselves with this long awaited piece of news concerning our annual event. While all that wonky webpage stuff was happening, Stego and Kat have been checking into whats possible for FurBQ 2017. As many know, FurBQ traditionally happened in the spring months. However, with the added necessity of using a reserved group area (due to our crowd size) and the changing of some local events, its become necessary to place our annual FurBQ event in the fall.

Last year’s date of September 17th really worked well for us, with that week being just when the weather starts to get comfortable (especially for the fursuiters). However, from talking with the park rangers and Reservations, we learned that October is entirely blocked out due to the parking situation created from Irvine Regional Park’s annual pumpkin patch event.

So, with all that is possible, we have put in our reservation request. The $300 fee has been paid,and we are ready to roll. I can say that with advanced planning (from choosing to do this in the fall only), we will have more time to work on the event and make improvements. Feel free to view the event posting on our calendar and make your plans now.

Welcome back everyone! Feel like its been a while since I updated, but many of you might know why. SoCal Furs (.com) suffered a bit of a loss to its database structure, and we found that we needed to take the site down and re-group. Consider what you see now our new(or new-ish) website. Apologies for everyone (who does not use Meetup) who had to access our calendar there for this past week.

The calendar has been updated, giving you an idea of what is coming up in March and April. Most other info is back up, but we are still waiting on contact from the subregion groups we had listed on our map. If you are one of these people, by all means, contact us…

Improved aesthetics will come soon, as we could definitely use an aesthetic tune up (and maybe new header images featuring both of our mascots). Just hang tight….

Well! That sure was fun! Over a week later, we can now say we have recovered from the SoCal Furs End of Summer FurBQ. In fact, we have been using the week to reflect and take it all in….

First two fuzzies at FurBQ

As usual, FurBQ began at 3:30 when our alarm sounded, we hopped out of bed, and got into our pre-packed car. Making the journey from San Bernardino, we ran into a bit of off-peak construction before making our way to the 91. In addition to traffic, we looked to the skies (and weather reports), and found that any lingering concerns about rain was eased. We arrived at the park just minutes before it opened, watching the sky light up as the sun rose to meet us.

While Stego went to add signs along the park road, Kat and friend Howlie parked at the site and began uploading. Within a short time, others showed up. Help was offered, which we took, and soon we formed areas for food as different things were brought. Signs got placed along the perimeter. One of the early arrivals had a whole setup for offering a morning coffee hour, with extra tables and carafes greeting a surprised Kat.

By about 10:45, there was a steady stream of furs trickling in. Our group had started to use parking in lots a site or two over so we needed help in bringing people’s food up while the other party parked at a lot farther away. Throughout the day, the crowd grew and by lunch hour, it seemed that we had a more dramatic increase of people coming. We even had some entertainment by the father of one of our attendees, as he had brought his guitar.

A group of furs from San Diego came up and set up a changing tent, encouraging us to grab some Gatorade and water to place in the tent so people could hydrate when they wanted to have a break from fursuiting. While our food supply was constantly added to by new arrivals, it was around 4:30 when we started to actually see a dent in key items like water, soda and Gatorade. Just like ice, these are the items that we can never have too much of.

Event in full swing, with nice weather and some shade under all these trees.

From those brand new to fandom to the people who have attended over many years, we can say this is an event where you can be surrounded by furries at any given time. At the same time, the nearby areas (not part of Group Area 3) gave people enough space if they felt overwhelmed from the crowd. Even some of our long time friends (that we had not seen in forever) ended up stopping by. We counted about 190-215 furs attending at the peak time of our event. Stego and Kat considered that the money for the reservation was well spent because, while there were a lot of us, it was easy for our crowd to move around the space and not feel cramped.

Even the Rangers would make a point to stop by our area, sometimes to check on us and other times to take in the colorful costumes. Sometime in the afternoon, our Ranger contact came by and asked if we could help get pictures of the fursuiters with some of the other park staff. Since the other staff could not leave the gate area of the park, the Ranger had an empty truck. Yalta Wolf took the passenger seat and then 4 more furs were placed in the back. We would love to see how the pictures turned out.

Once 6:30 came, it was time to close up shop. We started cooling the grill down and others helped consolidate food and other items into piles so we could sort further and get things put away. When you have furries frolicking in costume, its expected that we expand out of our space a bit so we even tackled areas outside of the Group Area #3 boundaries. I would say we had a decent handful of helpers and, after 2 hours, we could safely say that we got the picnic grounds back to the way they were (but also hopefully even cleaner and trash-free).

Important Thank Yous

First off, we would like to thank our donors that helped with the initial reservation costs. Those donors are as follows: DoodlestheGreat, YashaTaur, Ultimus (SixLeafClover), Sandoz The Megatherium and Joran Zero

Thank you to Irvine Regional Park, and its staff, for helping us acclimate to the new area and the reservation process. We would like to thank the rangers who came by to check on us and who helped with parking issues.

Our “grillmasters” were Leo Tsubasa, Stego, and Blaze Arctic, and a few others who briefly stepped into service. Having 3+ grills in the main area meant a lot more to look after as we cooked. Stego really appreciated the help, as did Leo.

We thank Parawolf for bringing a massive coffee setup (complete with folding tables) for the morning crowd. Also thanks to UberVoop for coming out here and bringing a heaping helping of meat to start our morning/afternoon with. We also got some tasty treats that made great additions to the table.

As always, it seems the San Diego Furries come up with a great setup for fursuiters. With their tent, furries had a way to change clothing without having to cram themselves in a bathroom stall. With encouragement from us, they also made sure to keep furries from dehydrating or overheating. Thanks so much, guys!

To Trigger Happy Squirrel, thanks so much for your efforts to reduce our trash and recyclables every year. As the sun set and people were leaving, he stepped in and helped clean up the picnic areas and all areas we had occupied for that day. Because he had enough room to carry multiple trash bags, it made a difference in how many trash bags were piled up for the park staff to deal with.

Thanks to the countless furs that contributed food or supplies which kept the food flowing. We are also grateful for people who brought and shared items that gave people fun activities as the day went on.

From our first year in this new spot, Stego and I have an idea of things we can do to improve the event for both the guests and for FurBQ staff. We had many people helping with the event as it went on but we can see areas where we might want to get more bodies to help. The place had emptied out by 7:00, leaving around 8-15 of us to clean up the park. With the increase in park space, we had more ground to cover.

We also noticed that the free grill areas did not get used. While we didn’t expect they would get much use (due to this being our first time in this reserved area), next year’s event will likely stress the free grilling areas a lot more so that furries who like a bit more independence know that these areas are available.

With every helpful group of people, our event seems to get better and better. So, if you get a random idea or suggestion for our event feel free to contact us, as we tend to get our planning started early enough before the event.

Lost and Found

Yup. Over the years, we find that more than a few items end up left on the grounds. Here is what currently resides remains for SoCal FurBQ 2016 Lost and Found inventory (Updated 2-22-2017)

Green Cutting Board. – FOUND & RETURNED TO OWNER

Bag of fur. This was passed to us by another attendee during our previous (2015) event. It has few big pieces in oranges and reds, along with some scrap fur. It was specifically found off to the side near the trash area but we didnt think it was meant to be trashed.

Soccer Ball This is another item that was left to us from a previous FurBQ. The ball is mainly white, with red and black accents. If you think that might be yours, please contact us.

In a swirl of suitcases and action packers, we return home just a bit more refreshed than when we left for Califur 2016. The convention was a combination of old ideas and a new setting to put it all in. Admittedly, we did not have a SIG/panel there at the con this year (first time in a long time) so we dont really have any current updates for you.

However, this doesnt stop us from wanting to ask the community (that went to Califur) for some help in providing our local convention some feedback. For those that attended the convention this past weekend, Califur staff has created this neat survey:

SoCalFurs is undergoing some changes of our own. Admin (and staff) changes have happened and we are working on dealing with the results of those changes. None of this really relates to the (rescheduled) 2016 FurBQ. That is still on for September 17th, and we will post more information as we get that taken care of.

For now, we look forward to stuff heating up for June and July, and hopefully that means more events for our calendar (but feel free to let us know of your event by submitting to our form.

Sadly for the first time in 18 years, The Official SoCalFurs FurBQ was Rained Out. We had gotten to our designated Group area right at 6AM, Right where the major downpour had just started.

Mud, Mud everywhere!!

We scouted the area, and noted the amount of mud that was accumulating all around the table areas. Compared to last and other years where we had morning moisture, This was Far worse, as in the past it had been Moist, but not Wet.

The decision was made to talk with the Park Rangers about a Reschedule. Fortunately the Ranger we spoke to had known about who we were and has seen the Fursuits we normally present, and she agreed with us that those aren’t really designed to be tromping around in the mud. She brought up the schedule of available dates, and they were mostly in August and September. Knowing how hot August tends to be, we chose September 17th.

In the meantime, for those still looking to spend a Saturday with a big group of furries (and for those who have pre-purchased food items for FurBQ), we do know of an event that sprung up in lieu of the FurBQ reschedule. Consider this an “unofficial” substitute picnic for furries, as this was not organized by us as any sort of backup plan (see FAQ below).

Some furries were able to create some last minute signage in the attempts to direct you to the right area within Mile Square Park. However, please contact LostWolf321 (via Twitter) if you find yourself lost.

A Few FAQs to address:

“Why didn’t you cancel the event the night before?”

In the past, when we were using the General Picnic Spots, we were free to do exactly that. Last year, sadly, We were flagged by the rangers as “Your group is too big to use the General Areas”, and we were told that future events held by us would need to be held in the Large Group Areas: Areas which are Minimum $300 to reserve, which is what we did for this year. The Major Caveat is that We Cannot make a “Rainout” decision ourselves, it would have to be at the discretion of the Rangers. Fortunately, the Rangers sided with our request.

“Why not move the event completely over to the New Park?”

At this time we have absolutely No clout with Mile Square Park: We have No idea how the Park Owners are going to take to 120+ people with costumed critters suddenly invading their space. Had this been a prior arrangement where we spoke to the Mile Square Park rangers in advance, we would be more willing to call it an “Official” relocation. But until we get names of the Owners of the park and chat with them, we cannot have an “Official” presence there yet. We are currently monitoring the impromptu event today, and will be asking for peoples input to see how we will proceed.

In the case of Mile Square Park, this is also under the OC Parks’ regional park system, so that means our group size would still be “too big” and thus we likely would have to reserve in the same way we have done this year for Irvine Regional Park

Update May 9th, 2016:

In the case of Mile Square Park, we just discovered that this is also under the OC Parks’ regional park system, so that means our group size would still be “too big” for the General picnic sites and thus we likely would have to reserve in the same way we have done this year for Irvine Regional Park

As a quick announcement: The 2016 SoCalFurs Furbeque will be on Saturday, May 7th!

While it was not the winner of the poll, the May 21st date was not available to us at the time of our booking. (Looks like someone reserved the spot before we did) May 7th was the next most popular date chosen – and available! So, the paperwork has been submitted and the spot was officially reserved.

With the fact that SoCalFurBQ is now in a paid group reserved area of the park, there is alot of information and things for SoCalFurs staff to go over. A full announcement (complete with extensive information) will follow sometime towards the end of March/start of April.

One of the things done during that trip to the Prancing Skiltaire was to visit Irvine Regional Park to get the scoop on what could be in store for the SocalFurs FurBQ this spring.

In talking to the ranger on Saturday, we learned one thing …. our FurBQ is definitely going to require us to plan even further in advance simply because people have already begun reserving these areas in May, despite that this is 3 months away. Of course this requires additional resources and planning now that we are no longer in the “free to the first person” picnic areas.

From pricing and specific location within the park, we have found a great spot that can hold the size of our crowd:

Tamerlaine by Clockwork Coon

Tamerlaine by Clockwork Coon

"Winter in California? HA! You'd have to go pretty far if you want to see even a little bit of snow... whatever that is. Here in SoCal, the only seasons we have are: Hot and Windy, Hot and Humid, Warm and Windy, then Slightly-Less-Warm and Dry."

The Good Stuff

3 Grilling Areas – BBQ Grills are scattered around this group picnic area. Each one is off to the side and therefore will keep foot traffic near hot grills to a minimum. With more grills to use, this may mean we can designate one or two of them for dietary accommodations (e.g. fish allergies, vegan diet, etc..)

Plenty of shade – The seating area sits under a canopy of trees. This should keep guests and our grillmasters out of the sun and help prevent overheating.

Cement surfaces in the grilling areas – For years, we have had to spend a bit of our prep time making sure we have room for food prep. While we will need to get some plastic covering for the 2 cement “tables”, we now have many more surfaces to work with.

Open field for sports – While not part of the reserved area, there is an open grassy field where people can play volleyball, frisbee and other activities where a large area is needed. This area exists a short distance away, but is far enough away from the hazards of our grilling and eating areas.

The Not-So-Great

Parking – OC Parks offers no reserved parking with any of the group picnic areas. Parking wont be any worse than before, so we will need to remain considerate of other guests at the park by not blocking right-of-ways. This site has 2 parking lots nearby that are first-come-first-served. From there, people will have to find whatever parking available and be prepared for a walk to/from the picnic grounds.

Less Bathroom Stalls – This group area is located towards the back of the park, which still has yet to get its modern upgrades. The bathrooms closest to this site are not unisex bathrooms like our old lot. The “men’s” bathroom has 3 small stalls and 3 urinals. The “women’s” bathroom has 4 stalls. There is another set of bathrooms in the field area nearby, but it will require a walk.

Where do we go from here? Lets Decide!

During our visit, we got a list of days that are still available for booking this area. Once the $300 reservation payment is submitted, the spot is reserved. Because reservations are first-come, first-served, we need to be quick about it. Please use this poll to choose what you want to be as our FIRST CHOICE when we set up our reservation with OC Parks.

What weekend should we book for our annual FurBQ?

This poll was closed

The above poll will close as of Saturday, February 27th, at 23:59. Second and third choices will be gathered based on what comes in 2nd and 3rd place.

Tail! is So Cal’s permanent nightclub event. Similar to the trailblazing parties Frolic and Foxtrot), we want this to be an expressive, open event, (so yes you CAN bring your leather/ rubber/ kink get-ups in[...]